Playgroups
Playgroup facts
- Most pre-school playgroups provide early education for children between three and five years old.
- Groups are organised by the community or voluntary sector on a not-for-profit basis, often with help from parents.
- They offer sessions from two-and-a-half to four hours, during term time, either every day or for a few days a week.
- Your child should experience learning and development activities suitable for their age.
- Pre-schools are a good way of extending your childcare and some are developing their services to offer longer sessions of full-time day care.
- A registered pre-school is regularly inspected by Ofsted to check on the quality of the care and to ensure that the free part-time early education (if provided) is satisfactory.
- Most pre-schools will provide places for around 25 children.
- There should be one member of staff for every eight children aged three to five.
- Most staff are trained to work with children or are part-qualified to do so.